Rangers’ Beltre has mild quad strain; may avoid DL

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre will take a few days off because of a mild left quad strain but may be able to avoid a trip to the disabled list.

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Adrian Beltre has a mild left quadriceps strain that will keep him out of the lineup for now, but the Texas Rangers plan to wait and see if their third baseman can avoid a trip to the disabled list.

”We’re going to kind of play it conservatively. We’re going to give him a few days,” general manager Jon Daniels said Thursday. ”We’ve got some flexibility with our roster right now.”

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Beltre came out of Tuesday’s game at Boston, then returned home for an MRI and exam by team physician Dr. Keith Meister. The Rangers were off Thursday before a 10-day homestand.

Daniels said Meister was ”pleasantly surprised” that the strain wasn’t as severe as initially thought. Beltre has had a history of quad and hamstring issues, and knows how to manage those.

The Rangers have roster flexibility until they have to activate right-hander Colby Lewis for his first start since July 2012. He has been rehabbing from hip surgery that followed elbow surgery.

”Until we activate him, we’ve got that extra spot. Originally we were thinking of starting Colby on Saturday,” Daniels said. ”We’re going to push it back. We could push it back as late as Tuesday. That will give us some time for Adrian to see how he’s feeling and four our medical staff to evaluate him, whether or not he’ll ultimately go on the DL, or that period of time will be enough to where he can manage.”